Trailer Sailing

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medusaboat

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Hi all,
Just wanted to know what general opinion is about trailer sailing?
What do you want? Size, berths, comfort levels, sailing range / ability, cost, style, auxiliary power, build material etc.
If this type of question is not allowed in this forum then I apologise, but I am NOT a boat builder, I am merely researching a forethcomming purchase.
Many thanks
 
Im not really very qualified to comment, but having a small 20fter (just out of trailer sailing range), for me, I would want something no bigger than 19 20 ft max, 2 berts 3 at a pinch, the sailing range would have to consitute coast hugging with plenty of escape plans in reserve just in case, not really having any authority in this area I would assume a standard burmudan rig would be best, and using an outboard that will suffise 5 - 7 hp will reduce weight, as will a fibre glass build.

Sorry to be so vague but hopefully you will get some idea. My priorities would be weight, ease of launching / recovery, and reliability in sea.

In terms of boats , I understand the leisure 17 are popular, though the hunter 20s are very usefull, being exteremly robust and light enough to race if required.

Other people will probably give you a better idea. Hope this has gone some way to answering your queiries
 
Welcome to the forum.
You will need to tell us:
Number of family
Your budget new/used
What vehicle you will be towing it with
Range is mainly Coastal, so that doesnt change


Then you will get some options thrown at you

Evolution25. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Welcome

Ask whatever you like as long as you don't offend anyone but that happens here too!
Good luck with your future purchase. This is a great forum to find out all sorts of boating answers so go ahead and ask away!
 
Hi,

The point here is what do YOU want. Yours is a very broad question! You sure you aren't researching a book or article? If so what follows is copyright!

I assume you mean a boat with cabin otherwise you would not have mentioned berths and in any boat of trailable size accomodation is critical - so how do you decide how much accomodation you can get?

First decide whether by trailer sailing you mean a) keeping boat at home and taking to the slipway a mile away or b)whether the world is your oyster.

If a) then max size is fixed by the max allowed towing weight of the tow car - 3,000 kilos or more for a big 4 x 4. If b) then the maximum weight of your boat plus trailer is set by the weight of the tow car. That same 4 x 4 with huge lugging power might weigh only 1,750 Kg and you don't want to tow any distance with a tow that is heavier than the car. If you are not experienced at towing then the tow shouldn't exceed 85% of the weight of the car.

And - the heavier the outfit the more the fuel you will have to buy.

In calculating weight unless you want to strip the boat on each outing then allow a few hundred kilos for moveable gear.

Next discard any choices of boat that won't float on a puddle. Keels of any sort that won't retract fully will seriously restrict your launch and recovery. If the whole outfit weghs less than 750 kgs then you probably won't need trailer brakes but if it is heavier then an outfit that requires immersing the trailer wheels at launch is not an option. Asbestos free brake linings rust, expand and detach from the shoes - result no brakes!

Next figure out where you want to sail. If you want to cross the Irish Sea then go for seaworthiness above all else. If you will stay inshore then you can look at boats with higher topsides and more accomodation.

Unless you are prepared to live with one of the high sided sailers that now come with a flat bottom, a 70 HP outboard, a ludicrous fuel bill but get you home at 18 knots in a flat calm then your auxiliary is likely to be a 4 to 10 HP outboard. Go for a four stroke with a battery charging facility and if the boat is 20ft or more then consider a propeller pitch less than standard or even the sail drive option.

Budget for a good trailer preferably with a swinging cradle. Recovery is the lousy bit when the office looms and spirits are low and you don't want to have to struggle. With a good trailer single handed recovery is entirely possible.

As to berths - what do you need? Anything more than two will compromise something else. If you must have four then look at 24 footers. Do remember though if you just need the extra two berths to accomodate a couple of children occasionally then the cockpit tent is often an option. In fact a well designed cockpit tent can often transform a small cramped boat. Sometimes its the only place with full standing headroom to ease the task of putting your trousers on! In dock I have had a happy party of eleven in my tiny cockpit during a rainstorm!

I hope this will kick you off. I am not even going to begin to get into specific boats without some clue as to what you want to do with them.
 
By the way 1. With smaller cars the max towing weight will often be less than car weight.

By the way 2. Why does no one in Europe make Aluminium trailers?
 
I think there is a third categary of trailer sailing - that is the winter at home - summer at the coast category. I have a Medina 20, which is easily tow-able, but I would not want to tow it for a weekend sail. Once per year is fine - but it takes quite a bit of effort to raise the mast & launch. Recovery can be hard work too, if there are only two of you. The boat stays on a mooring for the summer months, so it is ready to sail in minutes.

For regular trailing, and day sailing, I think a large dinghy like a Wayfarer or Drascombe is about as big as I would want to go. At least launching and recovery are quite straight forward - compared with a ballasted lifting keel type boat.
 
I did a good deal of research into this area before deciding to blast the budget out of the water! One resource I found most helpful when looking around was the Trailer Sailor Assocation which I think you will find here... TSA.

Hope this helps

Happy hunting and good luck

Mark
 
Well, first of all I think you have to decide whether they want a 'trailable yacht' or a 'trailer sailer'. We had a trailer sailer for 3 years and travelled extensively, enjoying different cruising grounds. Here's what we learnt.
1. Organisation and process are very important when launching and recovering. Be realistic about the effort required to launch and recover. Allow enough time to chill out and enjoy the experience. Pick your launch site carefully. Ideally shallow slipways with a pontoon running down the length . Launch and recover on a long rope to save your tow vehicle entering the water. Then you can tie to the pontoon without having to worry about sorting the outboard.
2. You are doing this for fun. You won't have any unless you trust your trailer 100% ... so pay at least as much attention to the condition and balance of the trailer as the boat. Unless you are over 1500kg steer clear of 4 wheel trailers, they are a pain. The max towing weight quoted for cars doesn't assume you are going to be tackling steep wet slipways. Personally, I wouldn't go anywhere near the quoted towing capacity of your tow vehicle.
3. Don't under estimate how much you will spend on safety equipment etc. You need all the same stuff as for a bigger boat ... but it can form a bigger proportion of the total investment
 
We started with a Leisure 17. Can't recommend them highly enough as a starter boat! We towed, launched and recovered with an old Reliant Scimitar - only about the same weight as the boat and never had any trouble. In fact, we found that there were actually some advantages to trailing a boat with keels. True, it needs more water to float off but it also located positively on the trailer and it was much easier to scrub the bottom too!

We then moved up to an Evolution 22 which we thought would be even easier to tow, being a lift-keeler but was actually a complete pig to tow!

Ultimately, we found that once we had a trailer sailer over 20', we lost too much sailing time by trailing and sailing so we went for a bigger boat that stayed in the water.

Our experience (and everyone is different!) was that the Leisure was just fine for an inexperienced husband & wife team to trail & sail for a weekend. Easy to rig, not too heavy. The Evolution was a LOT more trouble to rig - 50% more shrouds to tension! and harder to launch / recover. We ended up leaving it in a marina in the summer and taking it home each winter.
 
It won't help you much but have a look at http://groups.msn.com/TrailerSailerPlace for an oz forum of TS. Cars are generally bigger in Oz but certainly TS are bigger. Mine is small at 21 ft a friend has a Magnum8.5 ie 27.5 ft but it is a monster.

Your decision has a lot to do with your sailiing habits and you won't know until you try different boats and various locations. Launching sites and possible moorings will affect your decision. Many TS people only take home for the winter. It is not uncommon to put a normal deep keel 21 fter on a jinker to take home behind the family car but it is a bit of a project getting it out of the water. ( yes probably abandoning all road rules about max weight)
Just talk to lots of people and good luck olewill
 
I've thought about trailer sailing as an option but live so far from the sea it would cost a fortune in fuel.

One thing I considered was the launch and rigging time. On my 20 bilge keeler I need chest high water to get it off the trailer, which is a right pain. Getting the mast and rigging done takes about an hour and again is not a one person job.

So, I'd be looking for a decent breakback trailer, a shallow draft boat without to much weight to tow/launch/recover and an easy to raise mast and rig.

Damn, I hate the look of the McGregor 26 but it does do the job!
 
Further to the above notes.

A boat, trailer and all the other bits that you need weighing less than 2000Kgs greatly increases to number of suitable tow vehicles and includes many vans, van derived MPVs some larger MPVs and Cars. N.B. You need to check that if the mast overhangs the front of the boat in transit (and most do) that it is not going to fowl the roof of any vehicle if it is high. Think about going up ramps where the vehicle has started to ascend but the boat has not.

As said before keep away from the maximum a car will tow. With a van it may be slightly different.

A van with a towing capacity of 2000kgs may also (check specs) be able to carry a reasonable weight say 750Kgs in it before its gross train weight is exceeded, so there is some spare umph there if needed. Beware a lot of vans are front wheel drive nowadays, rear wheel drive may be better for towing. Vans are commercial vehicles and the the drive train is likely to be more heavy buty than a car.

Look at the mast section, how heavy is that, can one person lift it. How substantial is the mast foot pivot point. Many are woefully inadequate IMHO for the stresses they may have to take especially when rigging the boat. Look at different masts on different boats of the size you are considering there will be different sizes and different mast foot arrangements including tabernacles which is a substantial post given the mast a higher pivot point from the deck and suggest the mast is intended to go up and down reasonably regularly.

Is any additional hardware provided to assist getting the mast up. If there is it may suggest the boat has been trail sailed especially if it has been supplied by the manufacturer.

Consider how long you think it may take to rig the boat, then treble it to find the actual time. It will come down but only if you practice.

I can never see why a bigger boat takes so much longer to rig than a smaller boat with the same number of bits. I.E mast, shrouds backstay. It does though.

If I was looking for a larger trailerable sail boat I would include looking at these if I could:

Leisure 23 (one for sale on Windermere)
Laisure 23 SL
Hunter Mistral
other small hunters
Sportinas
Macgregor 26X
small Jeanneau ( I have a Tonic 23)
Jeanneau 24.2
Small Benetaus
There are also a lot of older small British Boats.
Sailfish 18
Etap 22

It is not a definitive list just some boats I would have a look at again after 4 years with mine.

Couple of things important to us:
Separate heads or at least somewhere that can be a bit private.

I would try and find a boat that I can look out of the cabin windows when moored. I can't on my present one.

Goodl luck

David
 
Slow_boat said:
Damn, I hate the look of the McGregor 26 but it does do the job!
Click to expand...

My...... MacGregor 26M...
IMG_0056-1.jpg



..Very shabby indeed!;)

0012.jpg
 
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While you haven't detailed what is important to you, I can give a slightly different perspective. I recently moved from motor to sail, and top of the list was ease of rigging, launch and recovery, single-handed. After a year or more of internet searching, I bought a Whammel by Character Boats. It is a gaff-rigged long (ballasted) keel boat. The trailer is a work of art: it tows like a dream (follows behind like a little dog)- the boat can be launched from beach or slip and recovered dry. The stern is raked to allow it to be backed into waves. It is claimed to be able to rig it in 20 mins - after only a few months, I have managed 25 min from arriving at the slip to being ready to launch, but usually I have to re-do something (those pesky Lazy Jack lines!) so it might take me a little longer. The Gaff rig means a shorter mast that is little longer than the boat. While normally an open boat, you can get a "Weekender" version with two berths under a canvas cuddy - it'll be more like camping than caravanning, but for a trailer sailer, the ability to go anywhere and launch from many different places, it is hard to beat. Doesn't go anywhere fast though....(well not in comparison to 115 HP!)
 
Must add to the list my own new boat, the Swallow Boats BayCruiser. All up weight 450kg before engine and anchor added. An extra 400kg of water ballast can be taken on in about 10 minutes, so you have ballast for sailing and light weight for towing. Carbon fibre mast, so you can push it up with one hand (actually, two carbon fibre masts, but the mizzen is just picked up and stuck in the hole). Draws less than a foot with centre board up. Sleeps three with a large cockpit locker for an inflatable, but you can have it with four berths and a smaller locker. Epoxy Ply construction. I have had her up to over 8kts with the wind in the right direction, but she cruises at around 4-5kts in most conditions. I've just put a 6HP Tohatsu outboard on her, which seems about right. She comes with an aluminium trailer. I really can't fault the concept.

I have only had her a month and you can see my impessions from the link below my signature
 
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